The suit was brought to "put an immediate stop to, and to obtain redress for, Defendants' blatant, intentional, and purposeful infringement" of Payne's copyright in one or more episodes of Plaintiffs' television series known as the Judy Garland Show (collectively, the "Infringed Work" or "Show"). It alleges that Payne is the sole owner of the separately registered copyrights for the territory of the United States of each of the twenty-six one-hour television episodes of the Infringed Work that were originally produced in 1963 and 1964 and broadcast nationwide by the CBS television network.

The suit also alleges that both Kief, as Trustee of the Trust, and the Judy Garland Heirs' Trust, while knowing that they did not own or have any rights whatsoever to the Infringed Work, illegally licensed to or otherwise authorized use of the audio-video clips from the Show by Stiletto and/or Productions and/or Manilow for the purpose of allowing Manilow to record and/or promote his album "My Dream Duets." Further, the suit claims that (1) defendants Manilow, Productions, Stiletto and Kief created a promotional video for the My Dream Duets album that utilized the audio-video performances embodied in the Infringed Work, including, without limitation, the performance by Judy Garland of the song "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart"; and (2) Manilow utilized the audio-video clips during his live concert performances.

The suit claims that Manilow' infringed on the copyright on approximately 68 separate occasions, each before an arena audience of approximately 15,000 to 20,000 persons. Manilow's performance of the duets with Judy Garland at Manilow's concerts is alleged to have been achieved by displaying either projections or digital replications of the audio-video clips from the Infringed Work on a large screen that the audience could view and listen to while Manilow performed live on stage interacting with the exhibition of the Infringed Work.

The complaint also contends that Kief and the Trust, as part of a broader effort to deprive Payne of his rights in the Judy Garland Show, cause Notices of Termination to be recorded in the United States Copyright Office with respect to each of the 26 episodes of the Show. Such notices can, in some circumstances, allow entertainers or their heirs to recover their rights to recordings made early in their careers. The Notices in this case are alleged not to be effective because the filings are inconsistent with the statutory requirements.

More importantly, the complaint alleges that because the termination notices are not supposed to be effective until June 1, 2018, and the defendants infringed upon the copyright before such date, they demonstrate Defendants' guilty knowledge that at the time they licensed or exhibited the Infringed Work they did not have the right to do so. Moreover, and importantly, it is alleged each such Notice disparages Plaintiff's ownership of the copyrights and significantly impairs Payne's ability to market and promote the Infringed Work.

In addition to its claim for copyright infringement, Payne seeks a declaration that he is the sole owner of the copyright to the Infringed Work and that defendants, and each of them, have no interest in the Infringed Work and lack the authority to exploit the same. Further, Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief to stop further infringement on Plaintiff's copyright and to prevent further disparagement of plaintiff's title to the Infringed Work.

Darryl Payne has a career spanning 42 years as a music producer and label owner. He has accumulated an extensive library of more than 40,000 masters and television shows featuring the world's biggest entertainers. Mr. Payne's produced concerts are recognized around the world. His catalogs are used by music companies and television networks reaching into millions of homes.

The litigation is styled Darryl Payne v. Barry Manilow, et al., United States District Court, Central District of California, Case no. 2:18-cv-3413. The following is a link to a copy of the complaint that is filed with the Court: